I attended an interesting lecture that was given by Dr. Michael Edenzon from the Health and Wellness Center in Cherry Hill, NJ.  He opened the lecture with some interesting facts.  The 4 major organs in our bodies are the heart, brain, liver and kidneys.  They are essential and the body will take nutrients from non-essential organs in order to keep them working properly.  The 3 non-essential organs that the body will draw nutrients from, if it necessary, are the hair, nails and skin.  Check the appearance of your hair.  Is it thinning out?  Is it brittle?  Look at your nails.  Do they have ridges in them?  Are there spots or discoloration of your nails?  Lastly,  look at your skin.  Do you suffer from eczema or psoriasis?  These are clear symptoms that your body is lacking in the necessary nutrients to maintain a healthy body.  You may want to think about seeing a nutritionist to see what you need to replenish your diet with.  Now on to the, “5 Secrets Of Looking And Feeling Younger“.

1.  Stop dieting.  Caloric intake doesn’t predict weight loss and it is not healthy for your body.  Your body will always adjust its energy to your weight loss.  Your metabolism will slow down, which makes weight loss increasingly difficult.  Metabolism depends on muscles and hormones.  More muscle build up will increase your metabolism.  Women have a 10% lower metabolism than men.  That is why it is always so much easier for men to lose weight!

Hormones are secreted in the pancreas and the thyroid.  They can speed up or slow down your metabolism.  You can do a quick check of your thyroid by testing your temperature.  First thing in the morning, take your temperature under your armpit.  It should be 97.6 degrees or greater.

Watch your sugar intake.  Our ancestors ate in 1 year the amount of sugar that we consume in 1 day!  Our sugar is regulated by our nutrients, vitamins, exercise and water.  You should eat small meals throughout the day.  This way your body knows what to expect and begins to act like a machine, running efficiently.  Eat lean proteins, complex carbohydrates, whole grains, vegetables and good fats.

2.  Eat things that are healthy for your body.  Do not eat white flour, white rice or white sugar.  Avoid trans-fats, imitation mayonnaise, margarine, imitation sour cream and non-dairy creamers.  The body doesn’t know what to do with these artificial products.  Trans-fats kill 30,000 to 100,000 people every year.  Drink spring water.  Take your body weight and divide it by 2.  That is the number of ounces you should drink of water every day.  Another gauge is drink 1 quart of water for every 50 pounds that you weigh.

3.  Avoid unnecessary drugs.  Pain medicine like ibuprofen leads to kidney failure when taken in excess.  Tylenol in excess leads to liver failure.  These drugs only mask your problem.  They do not fix it.  When you stop the drugs, the pain returns.

4.  Move your body.  Exercising your body increases your metabolism.  Dance, golf, hike and/or walk.  You will decrease your death rate by 40%.  It is extremely beneficial to post-menopausal women.  Walking 30 minutes a day will lower your risk of breast cancer by 70% and cut your chances of getting diabetes by 60%.

5.  Get out of pain.  We spend $470 billion a year on pain.  It makes you feel old.  Pain is physical damage to your muscles and nerves.  Address your pain.  What causes it?  Something as simple as stretching can really go a long way to reducing chronic pain.  I had chronic pain in my back for years.  After getting an x-ray, I was told I had degenerative disc disease.  It sounded horrible, but in fact it was cured with simple stretching exercises that I do every day.  It flairs up once in a while, but it now doesn’t interfere with the quality of my life.

Dr.  Edenzon ended the lecture by asking the question, “Have you ever had a pebble in your shoe?”  That was a terrific metaphor analogy that really rings true.  There is nothing more important than your health.  Address the issues in your health that are interfering with making your life a productive and healthy one.  If you are an unemployed woman, now is the time to explore these 5 tips and make them work to increase your health and wellness.